Above and beyond at Denhams Beach

Friday, 10 April 2020

One of the key challenges after bushfire moves through a region is the reestablishment of critical communication networks.

Following the bushfires that devastated many parts of south-eastern Australia over summer, Visionstream crews have been out and about reconnecting communities.

In some cases, where the infrastructure can’t be easily repaired, a temporary mobile network is set up. However even the most basic installation can pose challenges, especially when the threat of fire remains.

The town of Denham’s Beach is a small little township just south of Bateman’s Bay. In early January, our team was requested to help reestablish communications to the area after fires had taken out the local mobile phone site. However, with the threat of fire still there, it wasn’t safe to proceed.

With time running out before the town’s planned Australia Day celebrations, our team was finally able to visit the site briefly on January 18. Working hard, they were able to complete the required site acquisition and environmental design (SAED) in readiness for the build.

The build team then arrived back on site on January 23 and through some very hard work, had the site on-air in time for Australia Day on January 26.

Project Manager Josh Weygood said that the team was proud to have been able to provide some good news for the local community after a very trying summer.

“Through the tireless efforts of our SAED and deployment teams, Optus and our subcontractors including Coates Hire and Progress Couriers we were able to give the town some much needed communications just in time for their Australia day celebrations,” he said.